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Council Finds Holes in Government and Industry Cybersecurity

December 2, 2013

Members of President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology have found that cybersecurity for government and industry organizations requires a set of processes that continuously couple information about an evolving threat to defensive reactions and responses. In a report to the president, the council shared its six findings and correlating recommendations for remedies to better security information technology in both the public and private sectors.

In its research, the council concluded that the federal government rarely follows accepted best practices and should lead by example by accelerating its efforts to make routine cyber attacks more difficult. To achieve this, government agencies should phase out the use of unsupported and nonsecure operating systems within two years. In addition, council members encourage the universal adoption of the Trusted Platform Module, an industry-standard microchip designed to provide basic security-related functions. The council also recommends the universal adoption of the latest, most secure browsers to help prevent identity theft and a move toward nationwide availability of proofed identities for people, roles, devices and software. Finally, council members encourage federal agencies to use automatically updating software, including cloud-hosted software for both commercial and government off-the-shelf products.